This thesis analyses a religious concept in Islam, the concept of <i>tā‘ah </i>or obedience and its observance. This study emphasises the contribution of modern exegeses, namely <i>Tafsīr-al-Manār, </i>a very well known and one of the pioneers of modern exegeses, written by Muhammad ‘Abduh and Muhammad Rashīd Ridā, and <i>Tafsīr al-Azhar,</i> a very well known Indonesian modern exegesis, written by Hamka. The views of these exegeses or <i>tafāsīr</i> are also compared with the traditional view. This thesis explores the issue of the observance of <i>tā‘ah </i>or obedience which forms a certain kind of relationship between Man and God, Man and God’s Messenger, and Man and Man (including man and wife). This study shows that <i>tā‘ah</i> to God is absolute. <i>Tā‘ah </i>to God’s Messenger is also absolute in so far as his command is in the realm of religion. <i>Tā‘ah </i>between Man and Man on the other hand, is conditional. The issue of <i>tā‘ah </i>between Man and Man concerns a relationship between those who have power and those without, and also between those who command and those who execute the command. This relationship is susceptible to misunderstanding and abuse. Therefore, this thesis proposes that the important question of what is the scope of <i>tā‘ah</i> should be answered. To answer this question, this thesis discuses in chapter 1 the problems that occur as a result of the improper observance of <i>tā‘ah, Tafsīr-al-Manār </i>as an example of the contribution of the Muslim Modernists in finding solutions to this issue and the implication that results from the new interpretation. Chapter 2 introduces another important Muslim Modernist figure in Indonesia, Hamka, his thought, and his <i>tafsīr, Tafsīr al-Azhar </i>which is one of the author’s vehicle of disseminating Islamic Modernists ideas in the Malay speaking world. Chapter 3 discusses <i>tā‘ah </i>or obedience to God and His Messenger and their reasons which establishes the foundation of to whom or what <i>tā‘ah</i> is to be rendered.

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This study focuses on Targum Ezekiel and its additional liturgical and alternative readings, the so-called Targumic Toseftot, as well as their mutual dependency. The seemingly distinctive position of Targum Ezekiel within the corpus of Targum Jonathan to the Prophets is examined, with special attention for its rendering of key terms, such as ben-’adam, the approach to anthropomorphism, Merkabah mysticism, and Messianism. On the strength of the findings it is argued that Targum Ezekiel’s translational strategy is not at odds with the rest of Targum Jonathan. Neither has the Targum emerged in circles other than those which produced the rest of the corpus, nor has it been subjected to an overall revision. In addition, both critical text and translation of the Targumic Toseftot to Ezekiel are provided, accompanied by an analysis of their contents, with special reference to the long segments of unique mystical lore that are preserved in the Targumic Toseftot to Ezekiel 1, the mysterious prelude to the Book of Ezekiel, which describes the prophet’s vision of the divine ‘throne-chariot’. It transpires that this unique material sheds light on a relatively dark chapter in the reception history of early Jewish mysticism, being closely related to Hekhalot literature, and to the Shi‘ur Qomah tradition in particular, with implications for the latter’s dating. It is furthermore established that the intriguing mixture of Aramaic dialect use that characterizes the Targumic Toseftot to Ezekiel as a whole bears strong resemblances with Late Jewish Literary Aramaic, the literary dialect of Targum Pseudo-Jonathan to the Pentateuch and the Targums to the Writings, which is dated to the Geonic period.

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